The Beginning

  To give you a little background, I am in a program called EMRAP which isn't the usual internship. Through out the next year, myself and 9 other students will be gathering clinical research in the Emergency Room at Saint Joseph Mercy Hospital for the next year. 

  I had been waiting for the EMRAP program to begin for about 3 months now and I had no idea what to expect. People were constantly asking what I would be doing at the Hospital but I didn’t know exactly how to answer them. The first meeting that we had was a brief orientation. Part of the program is a weekly class that all the participants must attend. When I arrived to this first meeting/orientation many of the other students were already, sitting quietly scattered across a few different tables that made a square formation. There were ten students all together as well as the program leaders and supervisors. A few icebreakers were played for us all to meet one another and learn each other’s names. 

  No formal notification on what to wear was given to us however; the majority was dressed in slacks, button downs, and nice blouses. Together we went over the syllabus and what was expected from us throughout the program. We toured the hospital and each received a lab coat and a name badge, which made it all so very real. I was finally going to be entering the real working world. One step closer to the end goal. We also received our schedule for the next two weeks where we would be shadowing different physicians and nurses in the ER. Even though I was still a littler nervous and wasn’t quite sure I knew what I was getting myself into, I was very excited to begin.